Engineering Floquet Dynamical Quantum Phase Transition

Abstract: Floquet dynamical quantum phase transitions (FDQPTs) are signified by recurrent nonanalytic behaviors of observables in time. In this work, we introduce a quench-free and generic approach to engineer and control FDQPTs for both pure and mixed Floquet states. By applying time-periodic modulations with two commensurate driving frequencies to a general class of spin chain model, we find multiple FDQPTs within each driving period. The nonanalytic cusps of return probability form sublattice structures in time domain. Notably, the number and time-locations of these cusps can be flexibly controlled by tuning the Hamiltonian parameter and the higher frequency of the drive. We further employ the dynamical topological order parameter (DTOP), which shows a quantized jump whenever a DQPT happens, to identify the topological feature of FDQPTs. Our findings reveal the advantage of engineering nonequilibrium phase transitions with multi-frequency driving fields.